525,600 Minutes
by Color With Marker
Summary: Mark passes out on Christmas Eve, and instead of Rent happening over the course of a year, it only happen in one hour. Crappy explanation, I know.


Mark groaned as he walked up the stairs of his apartment building to his flat on the fourth floor. He had to maneuver his bicycle around the walls as he carried it on his shoulders. He cradled his camera in one hand and an eviction notice in his other hand. Once he made it to his floor, he knocked on the door, unable to open it with his full hands. Moments later, Roger opened it up, a pissed off look on his face.

"How we gonna pay last year's rent?" they asked each other.

"They power blows," Roger groaned as Mark set down his bike against the wall.

"That yuppie scum," the filmmaker muttered under his breath. Benny had become a prick to them since he married Alison Grey of the Westport Greys a while ago. They were told that they wouldn't have to pay rent, that they were golden, when he bought the building. They should have known better than that.

"I'll try seeing what's up with the fusebox," Mark said. He opened it and squinted his eyes at it; it was too dark to see anything. He tried fidgeting with one switch and was electrocuted heavily. Roger turned his head to see him fall unconsciously to the floor with a heavy thud.

* * *

_Burning paper floated through the air as dozens of Bohemians surrounded Benny's Range Rover._

_He scoured through the city for Collins without any success._

_His father said, "Let her be a lesbian!"_

_Collins waltzed into the room with a bottle of Stoli, a pickle tub, and a drag queen with zebra tights._

_He met Joanne and ended up dancing and complaining about Maureen._

_He went to Life Support and realized how devastating life was for a person with AIDS._

_He came around the corner to see Mimi from downstairs crying to Roger, pleading him for a second chance, while he claimed she was nothing but a child._

_A woman on the streets told him off, laughing when he admitted he was a poor starving artist._

_He filmed Collins and Angel dancing with each other and other strangers on a subway, bringing out everyone's smile._

_Maureen drove through a lot on a motorcycle and got one hundred people to moo with her._

_He sold footage of the riot she caused for the eleven o'clock news._

_He toasted to her after she mooned Benny and Mr. Grey._

_He danced on top of a table._

_Roger made fun of his inability to hold an erection on the High Holy Days._

_They shouted, "ACTUAL REALITY! ACT UP! FIGHT AIDS!"_

_Roger and Mimi shared a kiss after sharing that they both had AIDS._

_While they were completely stoned, Angel, Collins, and Roger were giggling over absolutely nothing on the fire escape._

_Watching the ball drop on New Years on a TV in a store window._

_"Bond. James Bond."_

_"And Pussy. Galore. In person!"_

_Chasing Maureen through large crowds of people in order to retrieve his camera from the cat-suited woman._

_Angel breaking the padlock off of their door with a trash can._

_With the help of Joanne, he got a job at Buzzline._

_Maureen and Joanne became engaged, and then broke it off at their own engagement party._

_For once, he actually could pay Benny the rent._

_He watched Roger help Mimi as she went through withdrawal._

_Angel died._

_They all fought at his funeral._

_He then got wasted with Benny, Collins, and Mimi._

_Roger went to Santa Fé while he worked._

_He quit; he sold his soul to the devil,otherwise known as Alexi Darling from Buzzline._

_Mimi disappeared after she went to rehab._

_He posted flyers across the city._

_Collins returned with money that he received from an ATM that he had rigged._

_Maureen and Joanne showed up with a sick Mimi._

_After Roger sang his new song, she died in his arms- for twenty seconds._

_Mark showed his new video- Today 4 U: Proof Positive._

* * *

"Shit, Mark, wake the hell up!" Roger snapped as he slapped Mark's face lightly.

"I know what to do," Collins said, grinning. He leaned close to Mark and whispered in his ear, "Maureen, you really want Mark back?"

Mark slowly opened his eyes. He could see Collins- _When the hell did he show up?_ he wondered- and Roger staring at him with concern. He realized that he was no longer standing by the fusebox, but lying on the couch.

"Oh thank God, he's fine," Roger sighed in relief.

"What's going on?" he asked. "Where is everybody?"

"Everybody?" Collins asked. "No one else is here other than us, unless someone else was here before I showed up an hour ago."

"But Maureen and Joanne were over there," Mark said, sitting up and pointing to the kitchen. No one was there. "And so was Mimi..."

"Who the hell is Mimi?" Roger asked.

"The love of your life!" Mark turned to Collins. "Remember? The last time we saw her, we were getting drunk with Benny?"

"Why would we be anywhere near _Benjamin Coffin the third_?" the anarchist questioned, making a face.

"It was after Angel's funeral- oh, gosh, sorry Collins, it's too soon..."

"Who the hell is Angel?"

"Mark, you were electrocuted," Roger explained slowly. "You passed out for like an hour. And now you're obviously disoriented."

"What are you talking about? It's Christmas Eve, around ten o' clock, right?" Mark asked.

"Yeah. But what year is it?"

"1990!"

"It's 1989."

"Maybe we should call an ambulance," Collins suggested, giving Mark a wary look.

"No, call Maureen!" Mark shouted. "Tell her to come here with Joanne! And to bring alcohol!" He jumped up and tried to rush out the door. He was stopped by Roger, who yanked him back onto the couch by his scarf. Collins did as Mark instructed, although he doubted the filmmaker's motives.

"Where are you going?" Roger asked.

"To get some other people to celebrate with!" Mark exclaimed. "I'll be right back." He ran out the door and jumped down the flight of stairs to the loft below. He knocked on the door. It opened to reveal Mimi and Angel, giggling over something that Angel was saying in Spanish.

Mark didn't know what to say. Mostly because last time he saw Angel, he was being buried. And the last time he saw Mimi, she had come back from the dead.

"Aren't you the guy who lives upstairs?" Mimi asked.

"Uh yeah," Mark answered. He stuck out his hand. "I'm Mark."

"I'm Mimi and this is Angel," the dancer replied, slowly shaking his hand. "Not to be rude, but what do you want?"

"Um, my friends and I are gonna get drunk to celebrate Christmas Eve. You wanna join?"

"Oh, let's!" Angel cried, jumping up and down and clapping his hands together. Mark missed his enthusiasm.

"Why not?" Mimi said. "We don't have enough money for booze anyway."

"Follow me!" Mark chirped. He led them upstairs to his loft.

Mimi and Roger glanced at each other. Their eyes locked and they froze.

Collins almost dropped his beer when he saw Angel. Angel giggled as the philosopher blushed.

Mark had a wicked grin on his face. Soon, the two couples had introduced themselves and were connecting with each other.

"Marky!" Maureen cried as she entered the apartment with Joanne. "Merry Christmas! Ho ho ho!"

"Sorry; she's already had some to drink," Joanne apologized blandly. She held up a twenty-four pack of beer, which was now down to twenty-one. "You're Mark?"

"Yep," he answered. "Nice to see you, Joanne."

The lawyer didn't question his lack of an emotional response, which Maureen said she should have expected, and assumed he wasn't sober either.

"What's going on with you?" the drama queen slurred as she threw her arm around Joanne and pulled her into a kiss. Instead of feeling jealous, Mark just grinned. He looked around to see Mimi sitting on Roger's lap and Angel and Collins staring lovingly into each other's eyes.

"Nothing much," Mark answered. "Just enjoying fate."


End file.
